Will Saturday Be The Most Boring Matchday In The Premier League?

All the attention this week will be on Manchester United’s FIFA Club World Cup matches in Japan, and Sunday’s tantalizing Arsenal against Liverpool battle. But spare some thought for the matches on Saturday. On paper, it looks like it could be one of the most boring matchdays in the history of the Premier League.

Here are the matches that are scheduled on Saturday:

Blackburn Rovers vs Stoke City,

Bolton vs Portsmouth,

Fulham vs Middlesbrough,

Hull City vs Sunderland, and

West Ham United vs Aston Villa.

From a football perspective, few of the matches stir much passion. Given their current form, West Ham against Aston Villa could be an entertaining match (Saturday, 12:30pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel). The other games televised on US TV: Bolton against Portsmouth (Saturday, 10am ET, Fox Soccer Channel) and Hull City vs Sunderland (Saturday, 7:45am ET, Setanta Sports).

Am I missing any storylines or am I being too pessimistic? Click the comments link below and let me know.

About Christopher Harris

Founder and publisher of World Soccer Talk, Christopher Harris is the managing editor of the site. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and several other publications. Plus he has made appearances on NPR, BBC World, CBC, BBC Five Live, talkSPORT and beIN SPORT.
Harris, who has lived in Florida since 1984, has supported Swansea City since 1979. He's also an expert on soccer in South Florida, and got engaged during half-time of a MLS game.
Harris launched EPL Talk in 2005, which was rebranded as World Soccer Talk in 2013.
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4 Responses to Will Saturday Be The Most Boring Matchday In The Premier League?

I think you might just wanna follow champions league if you can't get down with mid table clashes. Look at the Table, no one is safe, every point for here on in is a struggle. Blackburn will be out to prove that they can stay up after losing a manager, Stoke just hoping to stay up themselves… Bolton is always boring in my book but Pompey has their own storyline of change… Fulham has been entertaining all season, and Boro out to prove the draw v the Gooners was no fluke… Hull has been displaying all guts entertaining football, and Sunderland need points.

and The battle of the claret and blue has alot of subplots… Lots of ex west ham on Villa, and West Ham needs points. Both play open attacking English football. It is the sort of game that any fan of the PL loves and wants to see.

Then again my favorite game is normally the 12n00n fizzy pop match on Setanta. Guts and desire on display. I really don't need to see 'names' to enjoy my football.

Which Pompey will show up? The side that outworked AC Milan and Aston Villa and ManU? Or the side that, following their manager's body language, quit in the second half last Sunday against Newcastle? Tony Adams seat is getting warmer, and with Paul Ince now gone, he's moving up the table in the Sack Race. He needs some results to prove that he's up to the task. With new ownership coming in eventually, he needs to prove that he can keep us in the top half of the table. A win at Bolton would help us forget that dreadful second half performance against Newcastle.